Not the Only Flame(burger) in Town

The Joint:  Flameburger (Little Canada)

Rating:  Decent diner burger


There are two Flameburgers in the Twin Cities.  I did not know this when Jesse Stremcha (www.twitter.com/stremcha) and I agreed to meet for a burger run at “Flameburger” last week.  So it happened, following Google Maps, that I showed up at the Flameburger on N. Rice St. (Little Canada) – in a strip along the road.  A very unassuming exterior with a good dive diner interior.  My tattoed server was kind to offer me a drink as I sat overlooking the grill.  Around 12:45 (15 minutes after our official meet-up time), I began to wonder where Jesse was.  So I texted him:  I’m here.   Response:  I’m at Flameburger – where are you?   ---  I’m at Flameburger too…  Ooops.  Short story – he traveled, I bought.  So we enjoyed our burger at the Rice Street location. 

Apparently, back in the day, the two Flameburgers were affiliated – co-founded by some brothers?  Some rift – maybe a friendly parting.  And now we have two unaffiliated Flameburgers - one on Rice Street and one on Central Ave. NE.  

So what of Flameburger East?  It was okay.  I give it good marks for being an overt burger dive and for good 70’s era interior.  You will not feel you are eating at a fancy place.  These are not yuppie burgers – but rather traditional diner burgers eaten by real people, many of them eating solo on a work break.  Here’s to non-overstated, retro burger joints.  

I got a basic cheeseburger and onion rings.  Neither the burger nor the rings were of gargantuan proportion – and that’s totally okay.  I don’t like to be crushed by food.  You could dash in, enjoy a burger/fry combo and not roll out of there.  Ingredients, aside from the frozen onion rings, were fresh and the burger was cooked at request and to my table from the grill in seconds.  The typically thin patty was reasonably flavorful – not amazing like Blue Door or SmashBurger – but not dull and gray like typical fast food.  Pluses were the real flame broiling and sautéed onions. So I give it a decent rating.  Worth enjoying - not a home run.  

I mentioned the frozen rings.  Frankly, I put a high priority on fresh fries and rings – real sliced potatoes and onions.  So this is a mark down.  An okay burger can be saved in part by fresh cut fried potatoes.  Or mediocre fries by an amazing hamburger.  So, Flameburger East, start chopping potatoes!  

Bottom line: if you’re in the mood for a traditional diner burger, this would be a decent choice. Now I need to try Flameburger West on Central Ave. to prevent mass confusion. 

Points if you can guess the mediocre musical reference in the title.